


gone fishing

by forestday



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Post-Disbandment AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21897970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forestday/pseuds/forestday
Summary: Gone fishing, I'll be back in a couple months- Dubup.s: please send my stuff to my parent's house, they'll know what to do with itp.p.s: I love all of youThey all stare at the note left on Dahyun's bed. Twice haven't even disbanded officially for a full 24 hrs before Dahyun had all but disappeared from the dorm and their lives.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Kim Dahyun
Comments: 9
Kudos: 136





	gone fishing

**Author's Note:**

> ignore mistakes pls.

_Gone fishing, I'll be back in a couple months_

_\- Dubu_

_p.s: please send my stuff to my parent's house, they'll know what to do with it_

_p.p.s: I love all of you_

They all stare at the note left on Dahyun's bed. Twice haven't even disbanded officially for a full 24 hrs before Dahyun had all but disappeared from the dorm and their lives.

"She didn't tell me," Chaeyoung breaks the silence, hurt seeping through her words.

Tzuyu looks equally as devastated as the realisation hits that their school meal club leader had left them without saying a proper goodbye. Dahyun's belongings are found next to the note, neatly piled. The only things missing were her backpack, a suitcase, half of her wardrobe, and her prized picture frame holding her favourite photo of all of them.

They all thought the first person to leave the dorm would be Chaeyoung (she already had a plane ticket to Europe ready) but for it to be Dahyun who always believed in all nine of them being together the most, crushes Nayeon inside. Why didn't Dahyun tell them anything, even Chaeyoung and Tzuyu had no clue about Dahyun's plans.

"Fishing?! She doesn't even know how to fish, oh my god where did she go?" Jihyo exclaims, beginning to bite her fingernails.

"It's a figure of speech, unnie, I don't think she's actually going fishing," Mina says tentatively, fidgeting with her hands and deliberately avoidng anyone's eyes.

Nayeon squints at Mina, she only fidgets when she's hiding something but the subtle shake of her head when she catches Nayeon staring at her tells her to wait until they're alone before asking.

Jeongyeon is pacing around the room mumbling about possible places Dahyun could have went, before Sana and Momo both catch her in their embrace and drag her to sit on the ground with the rest of them. Sana and Momo are both uncharacteristically quiet, Tzuyu is on the verge of tears, Chaeyoung keeps staring at the note like it would bring back her best friend and Nayeon for once doesn't know how to cheer them up.

"Try calling her,"

They all scramble for their phones but Tzuyu is victorious in their race and calls Dahyun first. They hold their breaths waiting for the dial tone but it doesn't come, only a voice telling them that Dahyun's number has been deactivated.

The maknae room is too small for the eight of them but it's never felt so empty.

//

The first to leave is Jihyo, she has a photoshoot for her new album and she can't miss it. This however, doesn't stop her from giving each one of them a giant hug that lifts the weight on their shoulders a little before leaving. Nayeon doesn't miss the promise she gives both Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, telling them she'll try to find out where Dahyun had gone to. Chaeyoung and Tzuyu are the next to leave, taking Dahyun's belongings to give to her parents. Both their eyes are red but they seem to hold each other up as they leave the room. Jeongyeon is next to stand, coaxing a silent Sana and Momo to come with her to her sister's apartment to steal some food. She asks Mina and Nayeon as well but they both shake their heads.

They sit in silence for a while, neither willing to break it first. They're both situated on Dahyun's bed, Nayeon holding onto the note, reading the words over and over again, Mina staring at her. Nayeon sighs and the silence is broken.

"What are you hiding Minari?"

"I talked to Dahyun just before she left. I also helped her write that note,"

The confession come out quickly and Mina braces herself for Nayeon's reaction.

"You WHAT?"

Nayeon's voice is loud but Mina clasps her hand around Nayeon's mouth to quieten her. They both glare at each other before Mina continues.

"Look she made me promise not to tell anyone. She looked so tired Nay, how could I not help her?" There are tears in Mina's eyes now and Nayeon softens at the sight.

"I-I don't understand. Why did she leave, why didn't she tell us anything?" The desperation in Nayeon's voice is evident and her voice cracks.

"Haven't you noticed Nay? She's been smiling less even in front of our Onces. I think the disbandment was the final straw,"

With Mina's quiet words, Nayeon breaks. The sobs comes quickly and Mina's arms are immediately around her. Nayeon hadn't noticed. She hadn't noticed how tired Dahyun was. She let fake smiles fool her. She was supposed to be the one that cheered everyone up but she couldn't even notice the one member who needed cheering up the most.

"It's not your fault," Mina's words are whispered into her ear and repeated over and over again.

Mina's words are constant, drowning out Nayeon's sobs. Nayeon hears the words and understands them but she can't get her heart or her head to accept these words. How could it not be her fault? It was her job to cheer everyone up and she had failed. Mina continues her words until the sobs stop racking her body and Nayeon drifts off to sleep in Dahyun's bed, in Mina's arms.

She dreams of pale skin and a chittering laugh.

//

**Nayeon-unnie**

chae and tzu were looking for you again

you don't need to talk to us but please

at least tell them you're okay

( ** _Undelivered)_**

im sorry, please come back dahyun

**( _U_ _ndelivered)_**

i miss you as well

**( _U_ _ndelivered)_**

//

Nayeon breathes in the fresh sea breeze of Ulleungdo. She's had few oppportunities to explore the many islands of South Korea when she was in Twice but now she could with some free time before she went into work as a solo singer. Her heart throbs at the thought of becoming a solo singer. She'll never get used to being without eight girls who she used to spend every moment with but she had to try. She smiles though, remembering all of the chaos that came with being in Twice but the smile vanishes when she remembers one particular member.

It's been six months since Twice disbanded and five months and twenty-nine days since anyone has seen or talked to Dahyun. She knows Tzuyu and Chae have tried asking Dahyun's parents about her location but all they could gather was that Dahyun wanted some time alone. Nayeon never looked for Dahyun like the others did, too ashamed of her actions to try. The others had all called JYP asking if he knew where Dahyun was but the only thing that he told them was that Dahyun had already ended her contract with them.

Tzuyu had broke down crying again and Chaeyoung was left a mess. Sana and Momo had both lost the spark in their eyes, missing being affectionate with her. Jeongyeon had left the room before anyone could even stop her and Jihyo tried to keep everyone together but Nayeon could see the tears in her eyes. Mina stayed quiet, made herself small and avoided eye contact with everyone but Nayeon. They had both felt the guilt bubbling underneath their skin but what could they do if Dahyun had simply wanted to disappear.

Nayeon feels the guilt rise in her chest again. She didn't really try hard to talk to Dahyun. Dahyun enjoyed quiet and Nayeon respected that, so they left each other alone. She should've tried, she told herself and Dahyun that she would try to be a better unnie but she had ultimately failed and now no one knew where Dahyun was. If she was better maybe Dahyun wouldn't have thought that she needed to disappear.

Nayeon sighs, shaking herself out of her thoughts, she'll deal with her guilt another time. She moves to look out the window of her hotel room, sees the beach with its few occupants and the pier with a lone stranger fishing. There's something interesting about the stranger and Nayeon doesn't really understand why. The fisherman is wearing a bucket hat and a gray fishing jacket, nothing out of the ordinary for a fisherman, she can also see a tongue poking out in concentration as they try to reel in a fish.

Nayeon hears the cheers that the fisherman gives when they finally bring in a fish and laughs. Nayeon doesn't really know why they're celebrating like that but it makes her heart light that they're enjoying themselves. What confuses Nayeon the most is that the fisherman immediately releases the fish after its capture, waving at it as it leaves the pier.

//

Nayeon continues to watch the fisherman all afternoon, laughing at the never-ending cheers that erupted everytime they had caught a new one. Every time they get fish, they immediately release it, waving it goodbye. Nayeon doesn't really understand why but she can tell that they're content and Nayeon is content just to watch. She watches as they put more bait onto the hook and swing the fishing pole towards the sea. It doesn't take long for a fish to bite it seems, evident in the sudden movements that Nayeon has gone accustomed to.

The fish seems to be stronger than what the fisherman expects because all of a sudden they lose their grip on their fishing pole and their hat falls to the ground. Nayeon cackles at the sight, watches the fisherman stare at the slowly sinking fishing pole. They turn, she sees a familar pout and Nayeon chokes on air.

Maybe Nayeon was seeing things and it really isn't who she thinks it is. It really can't be her. She's been gone for five months and twenty-nine days now, her mind was definitely playing tricks on her now because out of all people she was the person who least deserved to see Dahyun first. She's on the floor now, hoping that Dahyun hadn't seen or hear her laughing at her misfortune.

Why was Dahyun here out of all places? When did she dye her hair back to black? Why was she fishing? Nayeon had thought it was just a figure of speech. Why didn't Nayeon recognise Dahyun's cheering?

When she peeks up to see if she was still there, Nayeon's heart skips a beat, a carefree smile is found on Dahyun's face as her body is racked with laughter at her own failure, far from the fake smiles Dahyun gave in the dorm in its last months.

Nayeon watches as Dahyun waves goodbye to the sunken fishing pole, watches her pick up her fallen hat and she stares at the free girl she's missed for the last five months and twenty-nine days as she leaves the pier.

//

Nayeon paces her room. Should she tell the others? No. She can already see the headlines as all of the members race to Ulleungdo to reunite with Dahyun: _Seven Twice members rush to join Nayeon at Ulleungdo. Are they meeting the missing Dahyun?_

Nayeon shudders at the memory of endless articles talking about how Dahyun has not been seen in months, remembers the lies she's told fans, asking if she was alright (she smiled and nodded as she died a little inside everytime). She wonders how Dahyun hasn't been caught yet, she was hardly in incognito clothing.

Dahyun was just free and Nayeon couldn't be the one that broke that peace.

Nayeon's hands are itching. She has to tell someone, so she opens the chat with someone that held her all those months ago.

**Nay**

mina i need to tell you something

**little penguin  
**

This better be important, I'm about to win this game on Fortnite.

**Nay**

i found dahyun

**little penguin  
**

Wait, what?

**INCOMING CALL - little penguin**

//

Nayeon wakes up and wonders if yesterday's events were a dream. She pinches herself and then curses at the pain. Nayeon and Mina had talked on the phone for hours.

She tells Mina everything about her sighting of Dahyun. How she was actually fishing (Mina giggles at that, remembering the words she told Dahyun to write on her goodbye note), how she lost her fishing pole to the sea (they both laugh outrageously at the memory), how happy she looked (the tears start then).

The call ends in a mutual agreement that they won't tell the others until Nayeon's talked to Dahyun. They don't know how Dahyun would react to Nayeon's appearance after all.

She wonders if Dahyun will yell at her, or quietly ask her to leave her alone. Knowing Dahyun it would probably be the latter, but she knows she deserves the former. She had failed Dahyun after all. Over the past few months, Nayeon had been combing through her every memory of Dahyun, pointing out things that she could've possibly missed about Dahyun, how she could have changed how it ended. Mina had told her it was unhealthy for her to look at 'what ifs' but what else could she do to assuage her guilt?

Nayeon looks out of the window to find Dahyun at the pier, in a bucket hat, a black fishing jacket this time, complete with a new fishing pole. She sighs herself, thinks that it's time to face the music. Not before getting them both breakfast though.

//

When Nayeon approaches Dahyun with sandwiches she doesn't really know what to say. She sits next to Dahyun, puts down the sandwiches, waits for her to react to her presence but she doesn't. She looks as serene as ever like she didn't see Nayeon at all. She's about to speak, but Dahyun turns to her and she can finally see how light Dahyun looks. She sees no dark circles, no wrinkles, her eyes light up as if they hold a galaxy of stars, and there's genuine smile on her face.

"Hi, unnie,"

It's been five months and thirty days since Nayeon had last seen or heard from Dahyun.

It takes two words for Nayeon to start crying right there in front of the person who holds all of her regrets.

It takes a small hand reaching for hers, for Nayeon to realise this is actually happening.

It takes an abandoned fishing pole and arms around her for some of the weight to leave her shoulders.

"Do you want to fish with me, unnie?"

It takes eight words for Nayeon to stop her tears and feel like everything might just be okay.

"Okay."

**Author's Note:**

> next chapter: nayeon learns how to fish and how to have a serious conversation with an unwilling participant
> 
> im not great at writing but im trying to improve. thanks for reading.


End file.
